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But then there was another ether, Claire and Bunny converged on the second level of shelves, four feet off the floor Mallory pointed to the drawer at the far end Claire pulled on the handle—and jumped back

The body bag inside the draas

Claire screa herself, and after that, she stepped up and pulled down the body bag zipper A bloody ar A body stirred within and then spoke

“What kind of nightmare is this?”

Chapter 3

That , Cindy opened the front door to Lindsay and Joe’s airy three-bedroom apartment on Lake Street

Martha was lying in the living roo chair, where she had a clear view of the doorway As soon

as she saw Cindy, she got to her feet and, with her tail wagging, trotted over to her It took a couple of tries for Martha to get up onto her hind legs, so Cindy bent down to hug her and hold her up

“Hey, Sweet Martha Howsa good girl? Wanna go for a walk?”

Cindy grabbed a paper bag from the counter, found the collar and leash on a hook by the door, and took Martha for a slow but productive stroll on 12th Street She knew there wasn’t very much traffic there, so it’d be a safe route for the two of them

While they alking, Cindy talked to Martha, reciting two headlines for a story she had to turn in in the next hour She asked her which one she liked better, but Martha was noncoed it, the duo returned to Lindsay’s apartment

Cindy was pouring dog chow into Martha’s bowl, concentrating so she didn’t get kibble all over the floor, when the phone rang She kneas going to be Lindsay, checking on her Ha! She reached for the phone

“Linds?”

“No, it’s Claire Oh, damn it to hell! Sorry, Cindy I just speed-dialed Lindsay I forgot Force of habit”

Cindy kept the phone to her ear as she filled Martha’s water bowl in the sink When Claire explained why she had called, Cindy almost dropped the phone She shut off the water to make sure that she’d heard her friend correctly